Humanities

“Developing our students to be critical thinkers who are able to apply their learning across different contexts through authentic tasks and activities that make learning relevant and meaningful to the learner.”

Key Department Programmes

At the Lower Secondary Level, History and Geography are offered for the Express and Normal Academic streams, while Social Studies is offered for the Normal Technical stream. At the Upper Secondary level, all pupils have to offer Combined Humanities, consisting of the compulsory Social Studies component and an Elective which is usually Geography or History. Principles of Accounts is one of the elective subjects under the department.

Our department adopts the Understanding by Design (UbD) and Inquiry-based Learning in our lessons. Through the use of big ideas and essential questions, students are encouraged to raise questions pertaining to real-world issues, and they will be guided to explore, examine and evaluate solutions to these issues. This enables students to take charge of their own learning and to be more engaged during learning.

To engage our pupils, the department continues to incorporate different pedagogies and strategies in the lessons. Some of the pedagogies used include cooperative learning and structured academic controversy. Games, videos, role play, project work and the use of information and communication technology (e.g. blogging, Edmodo) are also incorporated into the curriculum. To ensure that there is experiential learning, we incorporate local and overseas field trips for our pupils.

In addition, the annual Humanities Week is a platform used to stimulate students’ interest in the Humanities, while showcasing their achievements.

To engage students in experiential learning and guide them to learn about the interconnections between their lessons and the real world, overseas trips and local field trips are organized by the department.

OVERSEAS EXPERIENCES

During these trips, pupils get to see geographical landscapes first-hand, like the Black Forest in Germany and reforestation projects in Australia; physical features like the French and German Alps in Europe; as well as coastal features like the Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne.

Students also get the opportunity to visit places of historical significance, like the concentration camps in Germany and the Normandy coast where the Allied forces landed; among a host of other relevant and meaningful places.

As part of the curriculum, the department also organizes field trips to places in Singapore where, besides learning about Geography and History, pupils also get to see and appreciate the beauty and success that Singapore has achieved. These include visits to the Marina Barrage, Ancient Civilization and History Museum, Sungei Buloh Wetlands, the rainforest at Botanical Gardens and others. Activities and competitions for students are also held regularly.